Human Rights, Ethics, Mistress

When the Humanity Association's survey ship—a blue vessel resembling a whale, six hundred meters long—truly appeared before him, the shock it gave Yang Ming was still beyond words.

Although in the Abyss game, just zoning out at the Deep Spaceport for a while could grant a similar visual experience.

This sense of reality, and the oppressive pressure from the ship's hull, could not be compared to the simulated neural signals produced by holographic equipment.

Several small drones left the mothership and flew toward the landing craft where Yang Ming and Dr. Lina were.

Seeming to notice Yang Ming's tension, Dr. Lina proactively reached out, covering the back of his hand with her warm, soft palm. Her slender body leaned forward as much as possible, bringing her close to whisper in his ear.

"Hanton, don't say anything to them. I'll find a way to help you."

Yang Ming frowned, looking at Lina, who was now inches away.

He had half-expected a wet kiss.

Dr. Lina continued murmuring in his ear: "I have an Interstellar Medical License, and I'm just a ship's doctor serving the crew. Under interstellar common principles, there's a clause that 'Doctors are Innocent.'"

"Mm," Yang Ming nodded.

His brows twitched slightly, as if he wanted to say something but held back. Still, he said, "I'll probably be detained by them. If you can get free, I might need some medication."

Yang Ming was referring to Gene Stabilizer.

"Don't worry, Hanton. I understand what you need. What you have to do now is protect yourself. I know about your depression."

Lina signaled Yang Ming to stay silent, then resumed a normal sitting posture, pulling the seatbelt securely into its buckle.

—By now, their craft was under surveillance by the Humanity Association.

Yang Ming followed suit and fastened his seatbelt.

He thought that if he had buckled it properly earlier, he might have avoided the impact injury from before, and Lina wouldn't have discovered the fact that he had been modified.

But then, wasn't Dr. Lina's reaction a bit strange?

She was far too calm.

Four drones slowly approached, emitting rays that scanned Yang Ming and Lina—presumably conducting checks.

Only then did Yang Ming have a chance to relax his perpetually tense nerves, staring blankly at the landing craft's Control Panel.

Every detail here reminded Yang Ming that he was now Hanton.

As soon as he had a moment of respite, Yang Ming couldn't help but start pondering the following questions:

The truth behind the Abyss game;

Why Earth was destroyed;

Whether he had already changed the future;

If he had already altered the tragedy of Earth's explosion, then naturally he wouldn't have been destroyed by the ground fire, and thus wouldn't have been resurrected on the research ship... This seemed like a time paradox.

The key to unraveling all the mysteries was to find some connection between the world he was in now and the existence of the game Abyss.

This proposition was somewhat complex, and Yang Ming soon found himself with a severe headache.

What he could confirm now was that he had already changed something.

The research ship was gone, and the Lost Voice, a thirty-level squad epic dungeon for the empire faction, no longer existed.

Geglov, who was supposed to modify himself, chose to modify Captain Hanton instead, and then Geglov detonated the Antimatter Bomb, reducing everything to nothing.

Where did the change begin?

Yang Ming felt it must have been when he ran to the bridge, after the Valkyrie was taken down by the sleeping gas, and he spoke those two sentences.

That was the turning point of everything.

For some reason, Yang Ming recalled some details from his fight with the Valkyrie.

"She was wearing a patterned bra."

Yang Ming muttered softly.

Under the Valkyrie's combat-suit-material bathrobe, she wore a delicate, form-fitting, ultra-thin bra.

"What?" Dr. Lina thought she had misheard.

"Nothing," Yang Ming smiled, a trace of sadness flickering in his eyes before he returned to normal. "Just lamenting a tragedy that happened on the research ship."

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

It sounded like someone knocking. The four drones attached themselves to the sides of the landing craft.

The screen in front of Yang Ming shut down on its own, and the landing craft's remaining auxiliary correction engines cut off. The four drones hijacked the craft, flying it toward the side hull of the survey ship.

Without the light pollution from the cabin's instrument panels, the universe became deeper, and the starlight brighter.

Yang Ming sat quietly in a daze, and a warm, soft hand covered his again.

Lina's gentle voice recited a passage of poetry:

"Do not refuse the breeze blown by the stars.

"She will carry us to a brand-new world.

"Do not refuse the wrinkles that appear in the vacuum."

"That is the guidance left by our predecessors for you and me..."

Yang Ming smiled and slowly closed his eyes.

He did not know what lay ahead, but now he had to keep moving forward.

"Oh, Emperor Star," Dr. Lina suddenly lowered her voice, "I think I've caused trouble. I brought this survey ship here, which exposed the location of those two escape pods..."

Yang Ming blinked. "It was the survey ship that captured us on its own."

Lina turned her head to look at Yang Ming, as if trying to confirm something.

A few seconds later, she nodded gently and said uneasily, "Yes, that has nothing to do with us."

Yang Ming reached out and held her right hand, gently rubbing it.

"Relax, Lina. There won't be any problems."

Lina took a few deep breaths and gave Yang Ming a grateful smile.

Now they each had leverage over the other.

The landing craft slowly approached the blue spaceship. The side hull opened into a square entrance, with faint guiding lights flickering inside.

Four drones continuously adjusted their angles, allowing the landing craft to glide smoothly into the ship's hull. The outer hatch slowly closed, leaving the silent universe behind once more.

The outer chamber began to fill with air, increasing pressure, while field forces simulated gravity. The four drones, having completed their mission, detached on their own.

A group of men and women in white combat suits surrounded them, raising laser guns of various colors.

Yang Ming placed his lightsaber and shield gloves under the seat, raising both hands alongside Lina.

At that moment, a thought crossed Yang Ming's mind, but it was barely born before he forcefully crushed it.

'How long would it take to seize this ship?'

The Lesser Ancient God Lifeform, substitute for Hanton, young Earthling Yang Ming, had just been thinking exactly that.

The guards of the Humanity Association were very polite.

Yang Ming did not feel even a hint of disrespect.

The landing craft's 'scissor door' slowly opened. Yang Ming stepped out of the cabin, then turned to help Dr. Lina out.

The surrounding guards made no move.

A middle-aged man removed his tactical helmet, revealing his slightly wavy, pale golden hair and handsome, resolute face. He nodded to Yang Ming in greeting.

"Please state your identities!"

"My name is Hanton," Yang Ming said, glancing down at the military uniform he wore. "I'm from the Sherman Empire. This is Lina, the accompanying doctor on our research ship."

"Very well, Mr. Hanton," the middle-aged man asked. "Did you encounter an accident?"

"Yes, the ship exploded," Yang Ming shrugged. "I can't say much else."

"Oh, what a tragedy!"

The middle-aged man showed genuine regret and sorrow.

"If this accident was caused by our pursuit of you, then we bear a share of the guilt. Please forgive our insistence on upholding human rights. There are other escape vessels, correct? We will provide them with assistance as soon as possible."

A few question marks popped up in Yang Ming's mind.

The Humanity Association... was this easy to deal with?

"However, Mr. Hanton, and you, esteemed doctor."

The middle-aged man continued:

"We must temporarily place you in isolation, and subsequent interrogations will follow.

"We are convinced that the research ship you were originally on was conducting extremely dangerous and unethical biochemical experiments.

"During the interrogation, if we violate your basic rights, you may protest to us at any time, and we will decide through discussion whether to correct our actions.

"No need to be nervous. You have already been rescued."

"Thank you for your rescue," Yang Ming replied in a low voice, but inwardly he was full of doubts.

A few minutes later.

Surrounded by the guards, Yang Ming and Dr. Lina passed through several silver-white corridors and arrived at a spacious chamber.

Dozens of inverted trapezoidal transparent glass rooms were arranged in a square formation.

These glass rooms were presumably the 'cages' on the survey ship. The conditions inside were quite good—there were double sofas, floating entertainment screens, full wireless signal, and temperature-controlled cabinets stocked with drinks and food.

They could even choose to make the glass opaque on all sides.

The leading middle-aged man asked politely, "Would you two like to stay together, or should we keep you separate?"

"We need to stay together!"

Dr. Lina said nervously.

"Please choose your isolation room. Do you have any lucky numbers?"

"Let's go with this one, the nearest one," Yang Ming said casually, picking what should have been a glass room. Dr. Lina immediately followed him.

Soon, the glass room's door sealed shut, and four soldiers stood at attention in the four corners, rifles in hand.

Yang Ming sat down on the soft sofa, staring at the ordering interface that popped up beside him. For a moment... for a moment, he didn't know how to describe it.

So this was the prison cell of the Human Rights and Ethics Investigation Committee?

Awesome. Love it.

Yang Ming ordered two cups of coffee, lounged comfortably on the sofa, and began recalling the information he'd gathered while playing Abyss, searching Hanton's memories for introductions to the Humanity Association.

The Humanity Association was a neutral organization under the Interstellar Court, not directly bound by any interstellar government. It enjoyed a stellar reputation across the Milky Way Galaxy and was a headache even for regional powers like the Sherman Empire.

The Humanity Association advocated for the protection of individuals.

Falling into the hands of the Humanity Association meant the worst outcome was being sent to the Interstellar Court—an institution jointly established by over a hundred interstellar governments.

The one truly afraid of the Humanity Association was Gigrov; they could shut down his experiments.

Understanding this, Yang Ming's posture relaxed even further.

Yang Ming realized that, most likely, he'd be dragged back by the Sherman Empire next.

If news got out that he was a successful modification subject, the Sherman Empire would become his biggest threat from then on.

Would he be put under research?

Or secretly disposed of?

Yang Ming calmly analyzed the various possibilities. He felt he probably hadn't been exposed—those who left before the tail compartment battle likely didn't know about the impromptu experiment in the Backup Lab.

Lina paced back and forth, a little anxious.

Dr. Lina's worries were justified; the Humanity Association's survey ship found the other two escape pods without breaking a sweat.

Soon, over a dozen nearby glass rooms were filled with survivors who had escaped from the research ship.

There were over forty crew members, more than twenty researchers who had participated in the gene experiments, over twenty cleaners and cooks, and over a dozen wounded Imperial soldiers.

The soldiers and researchers became the primary focus of attention.

When Yang Ming saw Mistress Number One, she was gazing at him with tender affection, her eyes full of gratitude for surviving the disaster.

This gave Yang Ming a wonderful expectation for the future.

Soon, the middle-aged man who had previously 'received' Yang Ming led a group of over a dozen middle-aged and elderly humans and humanoid intelligent lifeforms wearing Humanity Association uniforms, standing near the hatch.

"Now, the person with the highest position and rank among you, step forward to accept our interrogation."

The survivors of the research ship looked at each other.

A crew member muttered quietly, "The highest-ranking one here now should be our remaining third mate. He can represent us."

Yang Ming's expression froze slightly.

"Very good. Which one is the third mate?"

The Imperial soldiers, crew, researchers, cleaners, and cooks all remained silent. Speaking up now would be nothing short of betraying Hanton.

"Him, it's him," Mistress Number One said, pointing at the glass room where Yang Ming was. "His name is Hanton. He's also Professor Gigrov's right-hand man."